Table 2.

Top-scoring recommendations for improving the methodology of environment and policy research related to obesity, diet, and physical activity^a

	Rating average (1=lowest; 5=highest)
TOPIC 1: Research status and gaps related to environment, policy, and physical activity
Top five promising methods that can be used in research now:
1. Natural experiments with good measures that are practical and cost effective	3.97
2. Surveillance systems with good measures of environmental variables	3.44
3. Define individual and environmental factors using mixed methods and other new models to study both simultaneously	3.08
4. Evaluation of policy process	2.93
5. Opportunity to study synergies of environmental factors with health outcomes and ecologic sustainability (e.g., carbon reduction and walking/bicycling)	2.78
Top five research priorities:
1. Prospective studies and evaluations of natural experiments to improve evidence of causality	4.14
2. Test multiple levels of social–ecologic model and evaluate interaction of variables across levels (e.g., environmental and social)	3.54
3. Develop appropriate measurement tools for target populations, particularly those at high risk for obesity (physical activity and correlates)	3.35
4. Understand how local communities can be mobilized to initiate policy change	3.25
5. Understand how local (and other) policies are implemented (e.g., how implementation varies across different locales or populations and what factors affect implementation)	3.05
Top two priorities for funding and communicating research:
1. Dedicated funding and study sections for multilevel, environmental, and policy studies	2.64
2. Speed up dissemination of results so that they can be translated more quickly to policy and practice changes (alternatives to journals, including blogs, working papers, websites)	2.57
TOPIC 2: Research status and gaps related to environment, policy, and diet
Top five promising methods that can be used in research now:
1. Policy change evaluations that assess (1) implementation, (2) enforcement, (3) community acceptance, and (4) impact over time on rates of obesity or obesogenic nutrition behaviors	3.78
2. Surveillance research to track changes in food-industry activities with the potential to influence nutrition behaviors (e.g., packaged portion sizes, reduced-calorie options) would allow researchers to (1) identify opportunities for natural experiments, (2) examine the influence of industry activities on nutrition behaviors and obesity, and (3) determine how industry activities shift in response to policy changes	3.08
3. Observational multilevel studies, including research designed to examine interactions between individuals and food environments (e.g., what individual factors increase susceptibility to obesogenic food environments)	2.89
4. Studies designed to examine (or quantify) the influence of multiple environmental domains and their interactions on rates of obesity (or obesogenic nutrition behaviors)	2.79
5. Cross-disciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations that incorporate complementary methodologies (e.g., qualitative and quantitative approaches)	2.76
Top five research priorities:
1. Conduct research in minority and low-income populations, such as the evaluation of policies to reduce/eliminate disparities in access to food (e.g., tax incentives for stores in low-income neighborhoods)	3.86
2. Develop standardized measures of food environment and nutrition policies (for various types of environments and contexts) to improve the comparability of findings across studies)	3.67
3. Examine motivations for food choices, including tensions between internal and external (environmental) factors on behavior	2.94
4. Conduct research relating to home and family food environments	2.76
5. Conduct research guided by systems theory	2.60
Top two priorities for funding and communicating research:
1. Create special funding mechanisms for conducting time-sensitive natural experiments and collaborative research	1.73
2. Encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations and mentoring of junior scientists by those experienced in this area	1.57
TOPIC 3: Promising study designs for environmental and policy research and evaluation
Top five promising study designs:
1. Promote rapid evaluation of natural experiments	4.17
2. Develop policy surveillance measures and data-collection systems	3.84
3. Promote health impact assessment techniques	3.38
4. Support international research and comparisons to expand range of environments and policies assessed	2.95
5. Exploit and promote analysis of cohort/panel data	2.85
TOPIC 4: Developing measures of policy for obesity, diet, and physical activity
Top five priorities for developing measures of policy:
1. Measures to support surveillance of food- and activity-related policies	3.54
2. Measures of strength of policy, policy enforcement, policy implementation that can be compared across policy domains	3.50
3. Improved measures of valuation: What do different communities value? Valuation models in the health field	3.07
4. Develop HIA methods and funding mechanisms	3.00
5. Develop measures of community support for policy changes	3.00
TOPIC 5: Statistical approaches for environmental and policy research
Top five priorities for statistical approaches:
1. Develop an accessible compendium of metrics or indicators derived from available environmental measures	3.43
2. Conduct training workshops in designing and analyzing multilevel studies	3.14
3. Use both quantitative and qualitative methods, including case studies	3.13
4. Training in analytic techniques tailored for small samples	2.95
5. Consider variability of environmental and policy factors in designing studies: How much variability is necessary?	2.89

^aBased on rankings of conference participants (n=41)